Harry here. The idea of a rating system sounds great on the surface, but the way it’s executed today leaves drivers wanting more. Today, senior RSG contributor John Ince shares what it’s like to be a driver in this system and how it can all be fixed.

I vividly remember my first introduction to ridesharing almost three years ago. I was meeting with my Lyft “mentor” who was supposed to give me a test drive and answer any questions I had about becoming a driver. But he seemed rushed and distracted, which I later discovered was because he was online – waiting for a ride request. He hurriedly showed me the basics of using the driver app, including rating system, “The passenger rates you from 1 to 5. These ratings are important because, if your average of the last 100 rating drops below 4.6, you’re in jeopardy of being de-activated.”

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What if I told you there was one thing you could do that would immediately boost your Uber driver rating?

Ratings are a topic that I get e-mailed about a lot, and for obvious reasons. I’ve detailed many times how the rating system isn’t fair for drivers since we’re required to maintain a 4.6 rating or above but passengers have no such requirement.

It doesn’t help that we don’t get any real feedback on what we’re doing wrong either. I get e-mails all the time from new drivers in danger of being deactivated and they have no idea why.

Harry here. Navigation is one of those things that I think a lot of drivers take for granted. I get e-mails all the time from drivers telling me that they are courteous, offer extras, make conversation, etc and they can’t figure out why their ratings are so low.

Today, RSG Senior Contributor Scott Van Maldegiam answers that question and gives us all the tips he’s learned about navigation in his time as a driver.

Why Is Navigation So Important For Uber Drivers?

Navigation: other than having a properly working vehicle, it is the most important aspect of our business. We have to figure out how to get to the pickup point and deliver the rider(s) in the quickest way possible.

And unless you know how to do that, no amount of water, mints, candy or personality will stop the rider from giving you a bad rating. Bad navigation is actually the single biggest reason for bad ratings. [Read more…]

Although I enjoy writing articles and recording podcasts, I’ve also been doing a ton of work on Youtube lately. So today’s post is actually a video blog and it has to do with drivers’ ratings. We all know that the Uber ratings system can be unfair at times and passengers don’t always understand how it works. But at the end of the day, you still have to play by Uber’s rules.

My biggest beef with the Uber ratings system is that there isn’t a lot of feedback given to drivers. You could drop from a 4.9 to a 4.8 and not even know what you did wrong. Lately, Uber has been sending out weekly summaries and letting drivers know how to improve their rating. You may have seen Uber telling you that you need to improve your city knowledge, professionalism or service and wondered what the hell does that mean?

Well after speaking to several drivers and comparing feedback, it appears that these are all randomly/computer generated and have nothing to do with the actual feedback that riders are leaving. Here’s a great example from RSG reader Kenneth who achieved all 5 star ratings last week yet he was still instructed by Uber to improve his professionalism.

The idea behind Uber’s rating system sounds great on the surface. At the end of each ride, the driver gets to rate the passenger on a scale of 1 to 5 and then the passenger gets to rate the driver on a scale of 1 to 5. This system is obviously a lot better than the rating-less transactions of old between taxis and their customers.

I mean there’s a reason why most taxi drivers treat their customers like shit and it’s because there’s no accountability.

But Uber’s rating system seems to have solved all that – at least on the passenger side of things. Passengers are now able to freely rate their driver and if they had a driver who was rude, talking on the phone while driving or just an unsafe driver in general, they could rate them accordingly and let other passengers and even Uber know that this driver is not doing a good job.

My Rating System For Uber and Lyft Passengers

But as you may have discovered, there are a couple major problems with the current ratings system as it relates to drivers. [Read more…]

About

I'm Harry, the owner and founder of The Rideshare Guy Blog and Podcast. I used to be a full-time engineer but now I'm a rideshare blogger! I write about my experience driving for Uber, Lyft, and other services and my goal is to help drivers earn more money by working smarter, not harder. Read More…

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